Cameron Falls Asleep
by hughville
Summary: Cameron falls asleep during a rather...crucial moment which causes House to send her home.


**Disclaimer: I don't own _House_. **

Cameron awakes with a start. She is lying flat on her back amid the rumpled sheets of House's bed.

"You fell asleep," House accuses as he rises on one elbow and leans over her. "Asleep. During sex."

"I'm sorry," she tells him as she tries to stifle an enormous yawn.

He sits up and stares down at her. "Who falls asleep during sex? I was inside you and you fell on me. Asleep. Not because you had a mind blowing orgasm but because you fell asleep."

"I said I'm sorry," she tells him. This time she does yawn so widely it causes her jaw to make a cracking sound.

House lays down and turns his back on her. "Go home."

She reaches out and touches his back. He pulls away from her.

"Don't be like this," she cajoles. "I won't fall-" Another huge yawn cuts her words off.

He reaches up and turns off the light.

"Fine," she tells him. She gets out of the bed and walks over to turn on the overhead light in the bedroom. House buries his head under his pillow. Cameron gathers her clothes and dresses quickly. She stands beside him and jerks the pillow off his head. Narrowed blue eyes stare up at her and she leans over him. "Maybe if you didn't work me like a slave I wouldn't fall asleep." She slaps the pillow back over his face and leaves.

* * *

><p>The next day, they studiously avoid each other. House browbeats and threatens Chase and Foreman as they work on the patient. At five o'clock, House packs up and orders a long list of tests for them to run. Once he is gone, Chase, Foreman and Cameron trudge to the lab.<p>

"How is it you managed to avoid his wrath?" Chase asks Cameron as he looks into a microscope.

Her lips tighten. "I didn't. I'm here, aren't I?"

"Let's just get these tests done so we can get home," Foreman suggests.

Though they work steadily, it is still after midnight when they all go home.

* * *

><p>Cameron shuffles into her apartment building and takes the elevator up to her floor. She yawns and rubs her eyes then unlocks her door. Once in, she dumps her bag and jacket on the table next to the door.<p>

"You really need to get a television," House remarks from his seat on the couch. He looks up from his video game. "You look like crap."

Cameron unbuttons her vest and slips it off her shoulders letting it drop to the floor. "Why? So you can sit and stare mindlessly at it like you do at your apartment?" She enters the kitchen, grabs a wine glass, and opens a bottle of wine. Once she has her wine, she kicks her shoes off and heads to the bathroom. House follows her and sits on the closed toilet seat as she runs water into the tub. As the tub fills, she drinks her wine and stares at House.

"Why are you here anyway?" she asks. "You never come here."

"You gave me a key."

She rolls her eyes and sets the wine glass down on the sink. Leaning down, she shuts off the water and grabs a bottle of bath salts. Sprinkling some in the tub, she watches as the fragrant salt melts in the warm water.

"I wanted to see you in your natural habitat," he tells her. Picking up her glass, he drinks the remainder of her wine.

She ignores him and strips off the rest of her clothes. Stepping into the warm water, she sinks down with a sigh and closes her eyes.

"Do I really work you that hard?" he asks as he trails his long fingers in the water.

"This is the second week that I haven't gotten home before midnight."

He flicks his fingers in the water. "You sleep at my apartment."

"Not enough. I'm not like you. I can't sleep in my office all day or hide out in the clinic for a nap."

She sinks lower in the tub until the water brushes against her chin.

She opens her eyes when she hears House get up. She watches as he undresses and tosses his clothes on the floor. He snaps the band of his white boxers against his flat stomach and opens her medicine cabinet.

"What are you looking for?" she sighs.

"A toothbrush. Unless I can use yours?" he asks still pawing through the cabinet.

"There are extra toothbrushes under the sink."

He selects a blue one and squirts toothpaste on it. Leaning his left hip against the sink, he rubs the deep indentation in his right thigh. Once he finishes brushing his teeth, he drops the toothbrush on the sink and limps out of the bathroom.

With a sigh of defeat, she bathes quickly and prepares for bed, taking a few moments to clean up the mess House made at the sink. When she enters her bedroom, she finds House in her bed, flipping through one of the books from her bedside table.

"You read too much," he comments shifting in the bed until he is comfortable. "You need a TV and cable."

"I like to read."

She opens one of her dresser drawers and pulls out a tank top and matching pajama bottoms. Pulling them on, she watches House in the mirror over her dresser. He is staring at the ceiling and making a popping sound with his mouth. Picking up her brush, she pulls her hair free from its ponytail and brushes it quickly. House flips the covers back when she moves to her side of the bed. She crawls in and he tucks the blankets around her. Rolling onto her side, she looks at him. He kisses her forehead and turns out the light.

He shifts and sighs. "Turn over," he tells her.

She rolls onto her other side and House curls himself around her. "You tell anyone about this and you're fired," he tells her.

He pulls her hair back exposing the soft curve of her neck and drops a kiss against her warm skin.

With his warm body pressed against her back and his arm draped over her waist, Cameron relaxes and closes her eyes.

"You can't even tell Wilson," he warns.

"I won't," she yawns. "Besides, he'd never believe it."

His arm tightens around her waist, pulling her closer to him. His legs tangle with hers and his hearbeat lulls her into a deep, dreamless sleep.


End file.
